New Delhi, August 16, 2017: The famous monument from the Mughal era, Taj Mahal is once more in contention as the Central Information Commission (CIC) has requested the Central government to clear up unequivocally whether it is a tomb or a Shiva Temple. An RTI came to the CIC regarding the same, in response to which the quasi-constitutional body solicited answers from the culture minister.

But where did this question come from and what is the source?

According to some historians, Taj Mahal was incipiently a Shiva Temple offered to the Mughals as a form of the gift by a Rajput king. The hypothesis says that the temple was later formed into the monument that dwells graves of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan and his adored wife Mumtaz Mahal, mentioned IndiaNews.

In 2015, a case was recorded in Agra by six lawyers, requesting that the tomb ought to be given over to Hindus for worship. The litigation solicited to forbid Islamic religious actions performed in the monument and remove the graves.

PN Oak, a revisionist historian also made the claim in his 1989 book “Taj Mahal” that the name Taj Mahal was procured from a Sanskrit word “Tejo Mahalay’ meaning a Shiva Temple.

The Cultural Minister Mahesh Sharma denied the claims in response to the question put forward to him that the Seventh wonder of the world was a Shiva Temple.

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The green campaign, launched by the Society for Preservation of Healthy Environment and Ecology and Heritage of Agra (SPHEEHA), was inaugurated by P.S. Satsangi Sahab, spiritual leader of the Radhasoami Satsang, by planting a sapling of keenu. Pixabay

To support the Taj city greening drive, members of the Radhasoami Satsang, Dayalbagh, planted hundreds of saplings of neem, tamarind, sheesham, keenu and shahtoot, here on Saturday.

The green campaign, launched by the Society for Preservation of Healthy Environment and Ecology and Heritage of Agra (SPHEEHA), was inaugurated by P.S. Satsangi Sahab, spiritual leader of the Radhasoami Satsang, by planting a sapling of keenu.

SPHEEHA secretary Pradip Kumar Sahgal told IANS, saplings were planted by a group of children, registered under the Santsu Superman Scheme run by the Satsang. It regularly also monitors around 5,000 trees planted in cities, like Lucknow, Noida, Delhi, Pune, Agra Zone 2 and Mumbai.

To support the Taj city greening drive, members of the Radhasoami Satsang, Dayalbagh, planted hundreds of saplings of neem, tamarind, sheesham, keenu and shahtoot, here on Saturday. Pixabay

Special guest Prem Prashant, former Haryana Chief Secretary, underlined the importance of tree plantation and cautioned against unsustainable development and its adverse impact on the environment and ecology.

Due to sustained plantation and regular monitoring of saplings over years, the Dayalbagh area here has turned lush green with high tree density. Devotees and pilgrims from outside also join the plantation drives. (IANS)